STAMFORD -- Crime statistics for the first six months of 2013 show Stamford continuing to build on crime reductions, while upticks in robberies and burglaries around the city bucked the general trend.

Compared with the first six months of 2012, the percentage of serious crimes and property crimes around Stamford were down by 3.5 percent, with 40 fewer of those crimes being reported, just-released FBI crime figures show.

The figures show drops in six of the eight crime categories reported. The drops range from 9 percent to 67 percent for crimes such as homicide, rape, assault, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

Nine months ago, in the last full year of crime statistics released comparing 2011 to 2012, Stamford crimes dropped in seven of nine categories.

"I am pleased to see that crime is down in Stamford and that we continue to be the safest city in New England," said Mayor David Martin. "It is a testament to the tremendous work of our public safety officials and the work they do each and every day to protect our residents."

According to FBI statistics, Stamford is the 16th safest of the 269 cities in the nation and well ahead of any in Connecticut with a population greater than 100,000 that report their crime statistics to the FBI.

"Police Chief Fontneau and I use these statistics to constantly assess areas for improvement. While the report showed a meaningful decline in crime in 2013, we did experience increases in robbery and burglary, which we will be monitoring and focusing on in the coming year," said Ted Jankowski, public safety director. "Overall, the report and our data analysis show that we are moving in the right direction and remain one of the safest communities in the country."

"It is not by accident or by good fortune, it is because of the tenacity and the day-in and day-out monumental good work done by our patrol officers. The patrol division has made major strides in combating crime, in part by their omnipresence," Fontneau said. Another reason for the impressive crime numbers is that there is "very little" crime in the city that doesn't get solved with an arrest and that helps keep persistent offenders behind bars, Fontneau said.

One of the biggest statistical crime drops occurred with homicides. For the entire year of 2013, Stamford had one homicide, compared with five in 2012.

The city's last homicide occurred on April 19, 2013, when Jeffrey McNeil, 24, of 97 Noble St., was shot in the torso when he was with a group of men standing in front of the Cut Master barber shop at 91 Richmond Hill Ave.

Capt. Richard Conklin who oversees the major crimes squad investigators and the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad said there are a number of reasons for the drop in homicides.

"Any homicide is too many, but for a city our size it is really unheard of for the number of homicides we have. I don't think it can be attributed to any one factor," Conklin said.

Conklin said aggressive investigations involving heavy surveillance and long-term wire taps and with federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI, have kept gangs off balance and reigned in so they remain incapable of taking over parts of the city.

Conklin said the department also has a Domestic Violence Unit that removes weapons from homes as required by any protective order a judge issues. Fontneau said those domestic violence investigators also pay a visit to the home a day later to make sure the victim of the incident is safe.

"We really target illegal guns," he said, explaining that police work hard to keep illegal gun owners from carrying their weapons. As well, Conklin said, when gun arrests are made, his officers meet with state and federal attorneys to determine how best to prosecute the cases.

"There is also a certain amount of luck involved. And we have a tremendous medical response in the city of Stamford where medics get there and get victims to a hospital, and our hospital does a heck of a job with shooting and stabbing victims and that probably cuts down on the number of homicides here," Conklin said.

After a 25 percent drop in robberies from 2011 to 2012, robberies were up by 34 percent with 21 more robberies reported for the first six months of 2012 as compared to 2013, figures show.

Fontneau said that many of those robberies victimized day laborers who carry their money in their pockets, instead of putting it in a bank. Fontneau said that when counting the entire 2013 year -- not just the first six months -- there was a nine percent increase in robberies over 2012 because there were only 13 more robberies than the year before.

Conklin said the bulk of those robberies involve young males preying upon and stalking victims, who are sometimes drunk, into secluded areas. Also, he said delivery drivers are also being lured by robbers into dark areas without security cameras and are set upon, beaten and robbed of their valuables.

Despite working the robbery cases, robberies such as those are very difficult for investigators to solve because there is so little forensic evidence to go on, Conklin said.

Burglaries also surged during the first six months of 2013. Compared to a year earlier, the number of burglaries, which included car burglaries, jumped 47 percent. But like robberies, the number of burglaries also tapered off toward the end of the year, Fontneau said. Still, there were 59 more burglaries reported in all of 2013 than in all of 2012.

Conklin said last year police were dealing with a few prolific burglars, who were hard at work supplying their drug habits. Other contributing factors included the historic values that precious metals reached last year. Not only were many exhaust systems stolen from cars for the platinum they contain, but gold and silver jewelry was also targeted because of its increasing value, Conklin said.

"Another factor is the economy. It hasn't rebounded and is still in the doldrums," Conklin said. "And we are seeing a real spike in the abuse of heroin. And that is a real driver in these types of burglaries. Many of our burglars are heroin addicts."